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POEMATA AMANTIS 



FIRST AND SECOND SERIES 



BY 

E. S. Buchanan, m.a., b.sc. 



New York, mcmxxii 



POEMATA AMANTIS '^^Y 



FIRST AND SECOND SERIES 



BY 

E. S. Buchanan, m.a., b.sc. 

AUTHOR OF "ROBERT BROWNING— OPTIMIST "; "GEORGE 
HERBERT— MELODIST, " ETC., ETC. 



Verses come on unseen wings, 
Like the snowfiakes from the sky, 
Telling us a thousand things 
Of the folk who dwell on high. 



New York, mcmxxii 



Copyright, 191 7 
By The Plimpton Press 

Gift 
ISXai ft 1823 






POEMATA AMANTIS 



Leave me, O Love, which reaches! but to dust; 

And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things; 

Grow rich in that which never taketh rust; 

Whatever fades, but fading pleasure brings. 

Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might 

To that sweet yoke where lasting freedoms be; 

Which breaks the clouds, and opens forth the light, 

That doth both shine, and give us sight to see. 

O take fast hold; let that light be thy guide 

In this small course which birth draws out to death, 

And think how ill becometh him to slide. 

Who seeketh heaven, and comes of heavenly breath. 

Then farewell, world; thy uttermost I see: 

Eternal Love, maintain Thy life in me. 

—P. Sidney. 



DEDICATED TO 

THEIR ONLY INSPIRER 



PREFACE 



The hall-mark and bane of modern love poetry is artificiality. 
These poems are real and not fictitious. 

A second mark of the poetry accepted by up-to-date magazine 
editors is paganism. These poems are Christian in their hold of the 
Christ-taught verities of God, of man's soul, and of the future life. 

Poets are born — not made at poetry clubs, or universities. They 
are good, or bad, according as under influence they become God- 
worshippers, or self-seekers. 

All our greatest gifts (including poetry) come by divine inspira- 
tion. There are also malign inspirations, or suggestions. These are 
responsible for man's misery. The true inspiration leads us to love 
of God and man; the false degrades us to love of self and envy of 
others. 

He that hates the lowliest thing. 

Is deaf to the song the angels sing. 



INDEX TO FIRST LINES 

FIRST SERIES 

PAGE 

A miracle of heavenly birth lO 

Above the dusky hair 19 

As the New Year dawned 6 

Beautiful hand 22 

Behind your eyes 30 

Come with the birds' first song 1 1 

Dear Love, when mornmg dawns 13 

Faces in the street 32 

Famished with hunger 29 

From the infinite space 16 

Give me those hands 27 

I have considered 2 

I have no song to-night 35 

I heard an angel call me 8 

I know the way you used to go 18 

I love the darkness of your eye 22 

I must fix it like a mage 2 

I saw a snowdrop 17 

I see the children 23 

I thank God for the things 7 

I think if God should give 4 

I thought of her and of her eyes 8 

I was so cold 17 

I would but cannot 37 

If you love me as I love you 11 

In hours I spend with you 26 

Inspirer of my days 13 

Let me be the sun 21 

Love, just one sigh 3 



More deeply loved 39 

More than all earthly gain 38 

My track crossed yours one day 10 

No longer would the sky be blue 21 

Not for us the semblance 24 

Not long ago a child 5 

O lips I love 33 

O Love, I am yearning 37 

O Love, true Love 34 

O Love, with dark and shining eyes 28 

O magic heart 25 

O mighty impulse i 

O moonbeams on the roof 12 

night with wings unfurled 9 

O the first days of spring 9 

O what a rich return 26 

O wind, gentle wind ; 6 

Others have spacious lands 23 

So near you are 35 

Song-birds and flowers 36 

Take them Love, this sheaf of poems 40 

The bee sings in the flowers 16 

The days that intervene 12 

The evening falls 19 

The night is falling. Love 14 

There is a blackness that I love 29 

There is a redness in the rose .' 15 

Thou art more to my soul 20 

Thou hast filled up my cup 38 

Though I go from the sun 15 

Three little words 33 

To-night if Christ 32 

What can I bring thee 25 

What is the sunshine to me 3 

When the poems that I write you i 

Without thy voice to bless me 20 

You fill my heart with song 27 

Your lips outvie the reddest rose 31 



I 

When the poems that I write you 

You shall read, 
My soul from earth's mutations 
Being freed, 
You will know that still by Love's impulsion bidden, 
I am singing by the blue of heaven hidden. 

When the passion I outpoured you 

You recall, 
In your musing,— when the evening 
Shadows fall, — 
You will know that in the happy near Hereafter 
I am waiting for your rippling girlish laughter. 

II 

mighty impulse of e'ermastering Love, 
Drowned fathoms deep in thine unsounded sea, 
Whose force is far my feeble strength above, 
I yield at last to thee. 

In vain the little strives with the immense, 
Vainly an atom with infinity. 
Thou hast made bondsmen of mine every sense, 
I yield at last to thee. 

If thou must still control my every thought, 
If thou must still possess my liberty, 
Contented thus to do as I am taught, 
I yield at last to thee. 

O blame me not because this soul of mine 
Long sought to keep its own identity; 
Mind, body, spirit, now I all resign — 
I yield them all to thee. 



Ill 

I must fix it like a mage, 

That sweet look: 
Write it somewhere in the page 

Of a book: 

That when shivering under chill 

Winter skies, 
Summer warmth may greet me still 

In your eyes. 

Gracious eyes that tenderly 

Answer mine; 
Glorious eyes that pour for me 

Gladdening wine. 

Eyes that shine and save me in 

Sorrow's hour; 
Shaming what is low and mean 

By their power. 

Eyes that wake a soul in me, 

Love aflame. 
Making death henceforth to be 

But a name. 



rv 

I have considered every grace 

That human life can hold; 
The parks and stately palaces, 

The glory and the gold. 
The loveliness of Grecian form; 

The sea-bird's sweep of wing; 
A child at play upon a lawn; 

A primrose of the spring. 



I have imagined what we know 

When numbered with the dead, 
In Paradise, where roses blow. 

Whose bloom is never shed. 
But gazing now upon a face — 

Sweet, spirit-pure, apart, — 
I deem God's highest gift and grace 

Come with a woman's heart. 



Love, just one sigh 
My spirit doth give, 

Conscious that I 
Cannot perfectly live. 

Joys that entrance. 
Entrancing in vain 

Do but enhance 
Mine impotent pain. 

Rapture that lends 

Life its delight, 
Soon as it ends. 

Whelms me in night. 

Love, just one sigh 
My spirit doth give, 

Since we must die 
To perfectly live. 



VI 

What is the sunshine to me 
If the voice of my love is away? 

What all the wonders I see 
Around me by night and by day? 

3 



What is the moon as she moves 
Up from the mist-cinctured hill, 

Eyemg the earth that she loves, 
Faulting it white at her will? 

What are the silver lights hung, 
Lamping it high overhead, 

Changeless, eternally young, 
Deaf to the march of the dead? 

What is the world vast and wide? 

What are my days that decline? 
Naught without her at my side; 

Naught if her hand clasp not mine. 



VII 

I think if God should give 

Me leave to ask to-night 
The life I fain would live 

In pain and grief's respite, 
I should but ask of Him one thing— 
My loved one to my heart to bring. 

I would not ask for ease, 
Nor wealth nor worldly gain; 

Possession of all these 
Might leave me still in pam; 

For my lone soul knows no relief, 

Save only love, to end its grief. 

I wait through weary days, 

Through many a wakeful night; 

No softest path I pace 
Can minister delight 

Till on my listening ear doth fall 

The step that makes amends for all. 



\ 



VIII 

Not long ago a child 

Was laid upon our knees; 

It calmly slept and smiled, 
And was not hard to please. 

Our hearts recall the smiles 
Upon the dimpled cheek, 

The pretty baby wiles, 
The sweet attempts to speak. 

The little fingers twined 
In trust around our own; 

The present scarce divined, 
The future all unknown. 

A flower half-disclosed, 

A spirit just awake, 
A melody proposed, 

A song as yet to make. 

The child we used to bless. 
The child with dreaming eyes. 

Is no more passionless, 
No longer peaceful lies. 

The tender little child, 

So gentle and so still, 
So easily beguiled, 

So subject to our will: 

Once quiet in our breast, 
Hath now imperious grown. 

Hath robbed us of our rest 
And made our hearts its throne. 



IX 

As the New Year dawned on me 
I fell into a reverie. 

Thanks to God for vanished sorrow, 
Adding comfort to the morrow. 

He hath heard our prayer and sent us 
Love's rich purple to content us, 

With its warm robe to enfold us, 
Angels envying behold us. 

Joy and light and peace and pleasure 
Love doth pour us without measure. 

Morning dawns with love to guide us, 
And with happiness provide us. 

Evening falls and love draws nearer, 
Making every whisper dearer. 

In the folds of love soft sleeping, 
There is no more pain nor weeping. 

When the next life's morning breaketh. 
To new rapture love awaketh. 

X 

O wind, gentle wind. 
Sing me a song to-night. 

My heart is sick with waiting. 
Waiting for love's delight. 

O moon, silver moon, 
Throw me a glance to-night; 

My heart is cold with longing, 
Longing for love's delight. 
6 



O earth, O patient earth, 

Pity mortality. 
Tossed forever upon 

Time's tempestuous sea. 

O stars, silent stars. 

More compassionate be! 
Ye will still shine on 

When earth forgetteth me. 

O Love, O Light of life, 

Eternal Deity; 
Vain, vain are all Thy gifts 

If love come not to me. 

XI 

I thank God for the things He made 

To give delight: 
The morning sun, the evening shade, 

The gems of night. 

And for the world invisible 

That with its grace 
Doth keep our eyes aloft until 

We see His face. 

That even grief, illumed by love, 

Transmuted is. 
And draws the soul to things above 

And fuller bliss. 

But most I thank Him for His plan- 
So passing sweet — 

Whereby He gave to suffering man 
A true help-meet. 

What if by day dark thoughts oppress. 

And peace depart; 
At even I have her caress 

To bless my heart. 

7 



XII 

I heard an angel call me — 
" Come up at last and live ; 

There's nothing to enthrall thee 
In all that earth can give. 

The spirits sent to love thee, 
Save one, are gone before. 

And now they wait above thee 
Beside the open door." 

I would (I answered), only 
My love I love her so, 

That should I leave her lonely, 
My joy would turn to woe. 

Though heaven wait above me. 
On earth while still her heart 

So constantly doth love me, 
I never can depart." 



XIII 

I thought of her and of her eyes 

The whole day long; 
I sat me down to moralize. 

But wrote a song. 

I rose and paced the crowded street. 

Yet I was blind: 
Her form, her voice, surpassing sweet, 

Possessed my mind. 

My garden high walls did enclose 

Seemed made for calm; 
But wanting her — I found the rose 

Had lost its charm. 
8 



I left my flowers white and red, 

My garden plot: 
There is no ease for me, I said, 

Where she is not. 



XIV 

O the first days of sprmg 
With their sun and their scent, 

What a yearning they bring 
For love's sweet content! 

How the leaves gently stirred 
By the wind at its will. 

And the charm of the bird 
Set the pulses athrill! 

O heart be thou strong 
There is One doth provide 

For the song-bird a song, 
And an arbour beside. 

And the white-blossom's Maker, 

Ere summer be spent. 
May make thee partaker 

Of love's sweet content. 



XV 

O night, with wings unfurled 
Fall from the crystal dome; 

The one who makes my world 
Awaits my coming home. 

O night, like Holy Dove, 
Descend that I may see 

The spirit that I love 

Come out to welcome me. 



O night, that bringest bliss! 

Expectancy is sweet; 
But sweeter far than this — 

The hour when lovers meet. 



XVI 

A miracle of heavenly birth 

Her woman's heart to me; 
More than the treasures of the earth, 

Or those hid in the sea. 

A smile from her Creator's face 

She brings me every day, 
And love's deep undertone I trace. 

In all that she doth say. 

Of many moods, by fancy led. 

Impatient of control, 
A radiance still on me is shed 

From her love-lighted soul. 

Though seasons come and pass away. 
Her heart shall keep its youth, 

And wear, in some diviner day. 
Its glorious robe of truth. 



XVII 

My track crossed yours one day, 
We met — and it was done; 

The love that will not pass away 
Was instantly begun. 

On looking back I see 
A leading sure and strong — 

A Hand unseen directing me. 
Amid the countless throng. 

10 



If clouds obscure the sky, 

The sun is surely there; 
And Love, that sleeps not, standeth nigh 

To hear and answer prayer. 

Though eyes may lose the light, 

The soul descries its ray; 
The little minute of the night 

Lends brightness to the day. 



XVIII 

If you love me as I love you. 
Earth and sky have faces new. 

If you love me as I love you, 

All but love hath passed from view. 

If you love me as I love you, 
We shall walk with vision true. 

If you love me as I love you. 
Love through all we shall pursue. 

If you love me as I love you, 
Every bar is broken through. 

If you love me as I love you, 
God hath fashioned one of two. 



XIX 

Come with the bird's first song; 

Come with the breath of dawn; 
Come, for my days have been long; 

Come, for my heart is forlorn. 

Speak, and the morning breaks, 
Speak, and the night is spent; 

Speak, and my spirit wakes; 
Speak, and my heart is content. 



Whisper as mothers do; 

Whisper as lovers can; 
Whisper / love but you; 

Whisper as woman to man. 

Stay with me in my mirth; 

Stay with me when I sigh; 
Stay with me here on earth; 

Stay with me still in the sky. 

XX 

The days that intervene 

The cold, the chilling days, 
Since last your face was seen 

And love was more than praise, 
Are mists that veil, but cannot hide, 
The sun that they have glorified 

The miles that intervene, 

The dark, the dreary miles. 
Whose enmity would screen 

From me your happy smiles, 
Are spaces in the vault of night 
Through which the stars shine doubly bright. 

My spirit still doth lean 

Across the farthest space. 
Until — no bar between — 

I find your shining face, 
And touch your cheek, and hold you fast. 
My utmost joy attained at last. 

XXI 

O moonbeams on the roof, 

O lights upon the river, 
O night of love and truth. 

Held in my heart forever. 



Three words of melody, 
A figure drest in white, — 

And earth and sky and sea 
Were clad in new delight. 

face I thrill to view, 
O voice that fills my brain, 

My spirit finds in you 
A respite for its pain. 

No happier they who dwell 
In heav'n's unchanging light. 

Than we beneath the spell 
Love wove for us last night. 

XXII 

Dear love, 

When morning dawns, 
I turn to you; 
When noontide burns, 
I rest with you; 
When evening falls, 
I call to you. 

Sweet love. 
As earth recedes, 
I shall need you; 
As day departs, 
I hold to you; 
As heaven breaks, 
It brings me you. 

XXIII 

Inspirer of my days, 
And solace of my nights. 

Companion of my ways, 
And sharer of my fights: 

13 



The demons do not love us, 
Our pathway they would bar; 

But blue skies stretch above us, 
And evening hath its star. 

Response when doubts were rife, 

And banisher of cold, 
Whose touch upon my life, 

Turned all its dross to gold: 

The world will never know us, 
But still will wonder why 

The kingdoms it doth show us, 
We pass for love's sake by. 



XXIV 

The night is fallmg, love, 
And my spirit calling, love, 
Just for you. 

The bats are flying, love, 
And my heart replying, love, 
Just to you. 

The stars above me, love. 
Seem all to love me, love, 
Because of you. 

The breeze doth bring me, love, 
Sweet joy, and sing me, love, 
A song of you. 

And all that liveth, love. 
My spirit giveth, love, 
New dreams of you. 

14 



XXV 

Though I go from the sun, beloved, 

Whenever our pathways part; 
Though the loss of your presence, beloved, 

Throw a shadow on my heart: 

Yet I will not complain, beloved, 

But I will rejoice that we 
Are sure of the life, beloved, 

That enters eternity. 

We part but to meet, beloved, 

And when hands clasp again. 
The grass at our feet, beloved. 

Will be brighter for the rain. 



XXVI 

There is a redness in the rose to-day 

I never knew before; 
A sweeter fragrance from the jasmine spray 

Floats through the open door. 

A fuller melody is in the wind 

That whispers in my ear: 
The winter with its snow is left behind; 

The long, warm days are here. 

A happier murmur have the summer bees 

That rob the honeyed flowers; 
Then: joyous undersong doth greatly please, 

Recalling childhood's hours. 

It is thy voice, O love, that lends such worth 

To flower and breeze and bee. 
Imparting to what fades so soon on earth 

Hues of eternity. 



IS 



XXVII 

The bee sings in the flowers 
A song of happier hours 

Than used to be. 
The daffodil doth wear 
A robe more debonair 

Than anciently. 

The summer doth disclose 
A fuller redder rose 

Than once I knew. 
And every bush doth glow 
With glory angels know — 

Since I loved you. 



XXVIII 

From the infinite space 

Fell the night; 
And I yearned for the feel of your face, 

Heart's delight. 

From the mind's cloudy sky 

Doubt came down; 
And I longed for your low-voiced reply, 
Mine heart's own. 

Then I slept a sweet sleep; 

And you came; 
And at once, with a tenderness deep. 

Called my name. 

At the words which you said, 

True and kind. 
Flew my fears, and a calm came instead 

To my mind. 



i6 



And at dawn my first thought, 

With eyes raised, 
Was to murmur for gladness you brought, 
" God be praised ! " 



XXIX 

I saw a snowdrop bloom to-day 

Upon a nameless grave; 
I think a woman planted it 

For one no tears could save. 

And musing on our little life 

That hastens to its close; 
I thought of Christ Who wept and died. 

And from the grave arose. 

How could I love your darksome eyes, 
Your hand, your lips, your hair, — 

Your mind, so prompt to answer mine. 
Your spirit fine and rare; 

How could I keep them in my soul. 

While worship deeper grows, 
If over human hope and love 

The grave could ever close? 

The snowdrop rising from the tomb. 
Brought Easter chimes to me: 

And sealed upon my heart the truth 
Of love's eternity. 



XXX 

I was so cold, 
Until thine arms 
Were round me thrown, 
My love, mine own. 

17 



It was so dark, 
Until the light 
Of thy dear face 
Lit every place. 

I was so sad, 
Until true joy 
Thou didst impart, 
Mine own sweetheart. 

And now with thee. 
In warmth and light 
And joy I dwell — 
Perpetual. 

XXXI 

I know the way you once did go, 

Dear maid of mine. 
Through meadows where the daisies grow, 
And butterflies dance to and fro, 

And sunbeams shine. 

I know the songs you once did sing, 

Wild, unrestramed, 
Until their rapture seemed to bring 
To kindling eyes the very thing 

That fancy feigned. 

And now that crags ascend more steep 

Than hath been yet, 
Although your path you steadfast keep, 
I ween that sometimes in your sleep 

Your cheek is wet. 

But still with me you choose to stay, 

Come what come will; 
And dauntless and without dismay, 
Lend sunshine to the darkest day, 

And love me still. 

i8 



XXXII 

The evening falls: 
Your spirit calls: 
Through walls on walls 
I pass to you. 

The morning breaks, 
The earth awakes: 
Soft as snowflakes 
I glide to you. 

The fancy sweet 
Is incomplete 
Until lips meet, 
And I hold you. 



XXXIII 

Above the dusky hair. 

Above the darksome eyes, 
I love the heart, so real and rare, 

Where hidden treasure lies. 

Above the brow snow-white. 

The pink upon the cheek, 
I love the smile so full of light, 

That kindles when I speak. 

Above the perfect grace 

Of velvet hand and arm, 
I love the gleam upon the face 

That heightens every charm. 

The joy that reds the rose 

And gladdens heaven too. 
Came with the gift the angels chose. 

The gift supreme of you. 
19 



XXXIV 

Without thy voice to bless me, 
Thy soft hand to caress me, 
The world is pain. 

Without thy step at even 
To bring my heart its heaven, 
My life is vain. 

Without thy mind to strengthen 
My faith when shadows lengthen, 
My hope doth wane. 

With thy sweet spirit near me, 
To comfort and to cheer me, 
E'en grief is gain. 



XXXV 

Thou art more to my soul 

Than the light to mine eye. 

And from pole unto pole 

While shineth the sky 

So long shall I love thee, — mine own! 

Thou art dear to my soul 

As the glory of God; 

And thy smile is the goal 

Of the path I have trod; 

For I love, for I love — thee alone! 

And at last on the soul 

When the full light shall dawn. 

And the mists that now roll 

On the sight are withdrawn, 

To thy love's height I hope to have grown. 



XXXVI 

No longer would the sky be blue; 

No longer bright the sun that shone; 
The rose no longer red of hue — 

If you were gone. 

No golden morn with breathing sweet, 
No evening hour with mystic thrill, 

Would make my pulses quicklier beat — 
If yours were still. 

No child, to steal my heart away, 
With eyes of your own colour deep. 

Could lure me in this world to stay — 
If you should sleep. 

No gain nor goal would be of worth. 
Nowhere for comfort could I fly, 

No refuge find in all this earth — 
If you should die. 



XXXVII 

Let me be the sun 
With golden ray 

To greet your eye 
At break of day. 

Let me be the wind 
To kiss your cheek 

When you climb alone 
The mountain peak. 

Let me be the rain 
With finger rare 

To touch your lips 
And tingling hair. 



Let me be the dew 

And gently come 
Upon your breast 

To find its home. 

Let me be the moon 

With silver light 
That shares your pillow, 

Love, all night. 

XXXVIII 

Beautiful hand that God hath made, 
If I were as good as I should be, 

I imagine my hand would be half afraid 
To touch you other than sacredly. 

Fingers attired in velvet white. 
If I had the eye no beauties escape, 

I think I should drink a new delight 
In gazing upon your perfect shape. 

Speaking hand with a spirit's power, 
Calling out from beyond the keys 

Music, like some fair scented flower, 
My inmost soul to uplift and please: 

Sensitive hand that God hath made, 
And more than others hath beautified: 

Within mine own when trusting laid, 
My life's deep longing is satisfied. 

XXXIX 

I love the darkness of your eye 
Wherein a thousand sparks do lie. 

I love the whiteness of your face, 
That witnesseth an inward grace. 



I love the redness of your lips, 
That never suffers an eclipse. 

The darkness is the kindly night, 
That veils the world in starry light. 

The whiteness is the fallen snow, 

That folds the flowers that live below. 

The redness is the rose's hue 

The bee doth kiss, — as I kiss you. 

XL 

Others have spacious lands, love, 
And parks and mansions new; 

And all that gold commands, love, 
But I have only you. 

I do not ask for wealth, love, 
Nor parks, nor mansions new: 
I am content with health, love. 
With health and only you. 

The things of time and sense, love. 
Are not the real and true; 

My joys are more intense, love. 
And I have only you. 

Earth vanisheth away, love. 

And all its treasures too; 
My wealth will ever stay, love, 

My wealth is only you. 

XLI 

I see the children playing in the lane, 
I see the lark upspringing to the sky; 

I see the yellow wheatfields on the plain; 
I see them, — but I sigh. 

23 



I watch the glow that glorifies the West; 

I watch the night descending from on high; 
I watch the birds repairing to their nest; 

I watch them, — but I sigh. 

I hear the voice of comfort of the Night; 

I hear her step, and know that she is nigh; 
I hear the song she singeth of delight; 

I hear them,— but I sigh. 

It is for hau- more darksome than the Night's; 

It is for eyes that love doth beautify; 
It is for hands that pour me all delights; 

It is for these I sigh 



XLII 

Not for us the semblance 
Men may buy for pelf; 

Nor a fine resemblance, 
But the thing itself. 

Not for us the seeming; 

But a power we feel — 
Waking as when dreaming- 

To be just as real. 

Not for us pretences. 
Whereof earth is full, 

Stirring but the senses. 
Passing by the soul. 

Not for us the flowers 
Man's art may devise; 

This sweet rose of ours 
Grew in Paradise. 



24 



XLIII 

What can I bring thee, dear, for all thy love to me? 
My heart's full tribute is too poor a fee: 
Naught can I bring thee, for all thy love to me. 

What can I sing thee, dear, for all thy love to me. 
My songs are less than love's own melody: 

Naught can I sing thee, dear, for all thy love to me. 

What can God bring thee, dear, for all thy love to me? 
A benediction thine eternally: 

This doth God bring thee, dear, for all thy love to me. 

What will they smg thee, dear, for all thy love to me? 
The samts who see God's face continually: 
A sweet thanksgiving, dear, for all thy love to me. 

What is the issue, dear, of all thy love to me? 
A soul that knoweth God through loving thee: 
This is the issue, dear, of all thy love to me. 



XLIV 

O magic heart God made for mine. 
You bring me birds and flowers, 

And make a brighter sun to shine 
Upon this earth of ours. 

O woman's soul exceeding dear. 

Encircling me with rays. 
You make the darkness disappear. 

And fill with light my days. 

O answering love, that perfects mine- 
Sweet, exquisite, apart — 
Your potency is all divine. 
And floods with peace my heart. 



2S 



XLV 

In hours I spend with you, 
Hours unalloyed with pain, 

The songs my childhood knew 
Come singing through my brain. 

My spirit meeting yours 
Finds inward peace, — though all 

Be tempest out of doors, 
And leaves in myriads fall. 

The homes of Europe weep; 

The days foretold have come; 
As men have sowed they reap; 

And they who sang are dumb. 

how were I forlorn. 

Had God not sent you hither; — 
My rose without a thorn. 

My rose no cold can wither. 

XLVI 

O what a rich return 
For all to-day's work-crowded hours, 
Your welcoming kiss. 

O what a heavenly balm 
To brain tired with protracted thought. 
Your cooling hand. 

what a pillow soft. 
Softer than down to weary head, 
Your peaceful breast. 

O what a priceless pearl 
For earth and for eternity, 
Your woman's heart. 
26 



XLVII 

You fill my heart with song; 

You with the singing eyes, 
You with the spirit strong, 

For whom my prayers arise. 

You make the sun more bright; 

You with the eyes of day. 
You with the eyes of light 

That drive the mists away. 

You shield me from the cold; 

You with the passion pure, 
You with the heart all gold. 

In which I rest secure. 

You who have all my trust, 
You with the feeling true, 

Yours is such love — I must 
Love God Who fashioned you. 

XLVIII 

Give me those hands and eyes and lips: 
I am the thirsty bee that sips 
From that mysterious honeyed source 
His being and his vital force: 
Give me those lips. 

Give me those hands and eyes and lips: 
Bid the sun suffer no eclipse, 
I am the flower that needs must turn 
My face to where his glories burn: 
Give me those lips. 

Give me those hands and eyes and lips: 
The measured sand too quickly slips 
From out my glass, and soon the night 
Will rob me of my dear delight: 
Give me those lips. 
27 



Give me those hands and eyes and lips: 
'Twas writ in love's apocalypse 
That this our passion was to be: 
And who resisteth Destiny? 
Give me those lips. 

Give me those hands and eyes and lips: 
Our tongue in utterance often slips, 
Our words are weakness at their best; 
In silence love must be confessed: 
Give me those lips. 

XLIX 

Love with dark and shining eyes, 
So dear, so kind, so true, 

The Maker of the starry skies 
Their light bestowed on you. 

1 know not why, of His sweet grace, 
Their charm to me is given; 

I only know your woman's ways 
Have made on earth a heaven. 

With you my days do gleam and glide 
Like swans adown a stream 
Where sedges sigh at eventide 
And waters overbrim. 

Your presence wraps me warm when earth 

Assumes a cheerless hue; 

And every hour has added worth 

When it is shared with you. 

I waken with the birds, and sing. 
For in my nightly dreams 
You walk with me where lilies spring 
Beside enchanted streams. 
28 



Companions on the path of life, 

We meet its ills together, 

And fix our gaze when storms are rife, 

On heaven's unclouded weather! 



Famished with hunger, 
Heartsick and faint, — 

Bread, give me bread, 
Was my spirit's complaint. 

Freezing from coldness, 

Soul petrified, — 
Warmth, give me warmth, 

In mine anguish I cried. 

God in His kindness 
Answered my call, — 

Down from His Heaven 
Manna did fall. 

In the deep winter. 
Warmth did appear, — 

That was thine heart, love. 
Unspeakably dear. 



LI 

There is a blackness that I love. 
All other hues it glows above; 
This colour rich, this colour rare. 
Dwells only in my lady's hair. 

There is a whiteness that I know, 
No other colour shineth so; 
This snowy whiteness, with its grace, 
Speaks only from my lady's face. 
29 



There is a darkness, more than light, 
That dazzles far above the night; 
This darkness, wherein beams do lie, 
Lives only in my lady's eye. 

There is a sweetness known to me, 
Whose source is deepest mystery; 
This hidden sweetness I can feel, 
But cannot to the full reveal. 

LII 

Behind your eyes 

A spirit lies; 

A thousand ways 

Your thought it sways, — 
tell me what this spirit is. 
That droops and laughs in pain or bliss? 

Beneath your looks, 

As stones in brooks, 

A soul doth live. 

And upward strive, — 
O tell me what this soul can be, 
Whose light, as through a veil, I see? 

Beneath the mesh, 

We call the flesh, 

A presence moves. 

That hates and loves, — 
O tell me whence this presence came. 
Impalpable as air and flame? 

If language can 

Explain to man. 

Explain to me 

Love's mystery, — 
These moods, these motions manifold, 
Their secret spring I would be told. 

30 



I kiss your lip, 

And nectar sip; 

Your hand I hold, * 

Your form enfold, — 
And yet your spirit is as free 
As roving winds that sweep the sea. 

Since this is so, 

I fain would know 

How can we blend, 

Fulfil our end? — 
O love, have you not learned (said she), 
/ most am yours when most I am free. 



LIII 

Your lips outvie the reddest rose, 

Bright being breathing thoughtful breath; 
With you my spirit's stature grows 

Beyond the reach of death. 

Your hair is duskier than the night; 

Your eyes outshine the evening star; 
With you my spirit takes its flight 

To where the angels are. 

Your step hath music more than all 

The melodies that life enhance; 
And at the sound of your footfall 

With joy my heart doth dance. 

Your smile hath grown so very dear, 

That in its welcoming embrace, 
I'm caught up from this lower sphere 

To heaven's highest place. 



31 



LIV 

To-night if Christ Whose voice I wait 
Should say, Come thou to Me, 

I would arise and follow straight, 
Yet, — half regretfully, — 

My look would linger on each scene 

Where you and I had happy been. 

To-night if heaven's light should break 

Upon my dreaming eyes, 
And without you I should awake 

In blissful Paradise, 
My wistful gaze would wander back 
To where you still pursued life's track. 

To-night if God should give me rest. 
Who find the struggle long; 

Although the angels round me pressed 
To teach me the new song, 

The tears into mine eyes would start 

If you were not with me, sweetheart. 



LV 

Faces in the street 
Pass on every side; 
Multitudes I meet 
By me ghost-like glide. 

Eagerly engrossed 
In the things they see, 
None of all the host 
Gives a thought to me. 

But a thousand miles 
From this human stream 
Some one lives and smiles 
In a happy dream. 

32 



For her spirit hears 
Mid the silent throng 
Of her hopes and fears 
Just one undersong. 

And a radiance glows 
From her eyes that tell 
What no poet knows 
To express so well. 

Faces in the street, 
Vanished soon are ye; 
But her presence sweet 
Ever stays with me. 



LVI 

O lips I love and hair and eyes, 
O woman's heart the crown of all. 

From you the light of Paradise 
On me doth fall. 

O lips I love and hair and eyes, 

O woman's ways, so winsome sweet, 

O spirit made to sympathize, 
O true helpmeet. 

O lips I love and hair and eyes. 
For you my feeling is so deep. 

Within my heart your image lies 
E'en while I sleep. 



LVII 

Three little words you said to-night 
Have filled my heart with singing. 

And set the bells, — the silver bells, — 
Of earth and heaven ringing. 

33 



Three little words you said to-night 

Have made the saints in glory- 
Suspend their songs, — their deathless songs, 

To listen to our story. 

Three little words you said to-night 

My heart will hold forever; 
Beyond the bounds of time and space, 

Beyond the unknown river. 

Three little words you said to-night 
The joy of heaven will heighten, 

When Christ, Who is our spirits' light, 
The darkness here shall lighten. 



LVIII 

Love, true Love, 

Love of my life, my all, — 

1 cannot live through the days to come 
Apart from thy foot fall. 

Love, kind Love, 

My utmost joy and pride, — 

1 cannot work through the years to come 
Without thee at my side. 

O Love, sweet Love, 

My joy and ecstasy, — 

There is no 'joy in earth, or heaven, 

That is not joined with thee. 

O Love, dear Love, 

Life's supreme desire, — 

For thee in my veins by night and day 

There burns a quenchless fire. 



34 



LIX 

I have no song to-night, 

Nor any zest for singing, 
After the warmth and light 

Around your presence clinging, 
The street was cold, it chilled my heart, 
And tears into my eyes do start. 

I cannot lift my heart: 

Too heavy on it lies 
The thought of days apart 

From your dark shining eyes. 
When I shall long, and long in vain, 
For one soft hand to rest my brain. 

Upon my face I fall 

As doth a tired child; 
For comfort I recall 

That God on us hath smiled; 
And so this heart, that paineth still. 
Awaits the unfolding of His will. 



LX 

So near you are, so dear you are. 

The merest smile from you 
Doth thrill my heart, my happy heart, 

With rapture through and through. 

If you are nigh, give sigh for sigh. 

The faintest word you say 
Doth flood my heart, my foolish heart. 

With radiance like the day. 

So dear you are, so near you are, 

I tell you, tell you true, 
'Twould break my heart, my trusting heart, 

The least cold look from you. 

35 



If you are nigh, give sigh for sigh, 
I laugh at grief and pain, 

And see in stars upon the sky 
My happiness writ plain. 



LXI 

Song-birds and flowers, 
Singing together, 

With their sweet powers 
Perfect the weather. 

Children at play 
On the green grass 

All the long day 
Merrily pass. 

Only my heart. 

Dreaming alone, 
Standeth apart. 

Cold as a stone. 

Joy doth enthrall 

All except me: 
Deaf to her call. 

Why should I be? 

Dower of my life, 
Darksome and dear. 

Sorrow is rife 
Till thou appear. 

Winsome and wise, 
God's gift to me, 

Nothing supplies 
Absence from thee. 

36 



LXII 

love, I am yearning to-night, 

For your voice with its magical tone, 
To bring me the hours of delight 
We knew in the days that are flown. 

Since then how the hours have been long. 

No light hath illumined the sky; 
No robin hath trilled me a song; 

No marigold greeted mine eye. 

To-day like its fellows hath been; 

It is passed, and night's curtain is spread; 
But there is no moon to be seen, 

No star in the vault overhead. 

The stars do not come where you're not; 

The moon, too, refuses to shine; 
But there is no desolate spot. 

If only your presence is mine. 

How long must I languish in vain, 
Alone in the cold crowded street, 

For the laughter that's music's refrain; 
For the kiss that is earth's sweetest sweet. 

LXIII 

1 would but cannot — bitter words 
Expressive of our human fate; 

To image heaven and yet remain 
Outside the gate. 

We see the bliss we may not grasp; 

We watch the tide that laves the strand, 
And long to sail upon the deep, — 

Yet powerless stand. 

Joy holds a cup before our gaze, — 
The cup we count life's only gain, — 

And looking on it with a thirst 
That's more than pain, 
37 



The eyes dUate, the pulses thrill; 

We taste a heaven in our hearts; 
We stretch out supplicating arms — 

And Joy departs. 

O life, inadequate to Joy ! 

Can we but catch her smile, — no more, 
Until the kindly hand of death 

Unbar the door? 



LXIV 

Thou hast filled up my cup 
With joy from above; 

Thou hast lifted me up, 
O most wonderful love. 

Because thou dost pour 
Thy nectar for me, 

I live evermore 
In deep ecstacy. 

Thy coming doth bring 
Such light to mine eyes 

That glory doth ring 
The stars in the skies. 

Far, far beyond hope 
Thy sweetness I prove; 

Thou hast lifted me up, 
O most wonderful love. 



LXV 

More than all earthly gain 

Your heart so true; 
More than the world's refrain 

One word from you. 

38 



Sweeter than angel songs 
Your voice doth ring; 

And in the midst of throngs, 
I hear you sing. 

Upsprings, — as light doth come 
Forth from a star, — 

Joy and the sense of home, 
Where'er you are. 

For such immortal love 

To crown my days, 
God, with the choir above. 

Daily I praise. 



LXVI 

More deeply loved than aught on earth beside, 
For thee by night and day my prayers ascend, 
My best companion, comforter and guide. 
My alone only friend. 

So strong my passion is, and so intense. 
So close our twin-born spirits intertwine. 
The angel guard that calls thy spirit hence, 
Will also call for mine. 

Ringed thus around by love that does not tire. 
But groweth deeper, tenderer day by day. 
Through viewless hosts that 'gainst the soul conspire. 
Unharmed we take our way. 

We take our way, as pilgrims, hand in hand, 
Through mists that do not dim the unseen sunshine. 
On to the goal where we shall understand 
What here we but divine. 

39 



LXVII 

Take them, love, this sheaf of poems, 
Written as my heart was glowing, — 
Glowing with the fire that burneth 
In the deep depths of my spirit, — 
Fire which you yourself have kindled. 

White and still and cold the paper. 
Black and dead the ink and lifeless; 
But a breath hath passed upon them, 
From the vital soul within me. 
Till the lifeless are the living. 

And, as in your magic music, 
Which you weave into a language. 
Chords are blended, interwoven, 
Simple in themselves, yet telling 
In their blending man's whole story: 

So in these my songs I sing you, 
Searching, you will find the meaning, 
See the things love only seeth, 
Seize the message of the spirit, 
Which the dead are unaware of. 

And your spirit, — in my singing, — 
Listening to my spirit speaking, 
You will catch the oft-heard whisper, 
Flashed as from the eyes beside you — 
Love is best; love faileth never. 

Verses come on unseen wings, 
Like the snowflakes from the sky, 
Telling us a thousand things 
Of the folk who dwell on high. 



40 



INDEX TO FIRST LINES 

SECOND SERIES 

PAGE 

A child, there lies 49 

A fire God lit 4^ 

A precious thought appeared 77 

As the rose allures ^5 

Before the light of morning 6i 

Dear, do you realize 55 

Dearest, when I go home 5^ 

How weary of words I am 8o 

I cannot lose you 9^ 

I have learned under the sun 4^ 

I have seen the fair ideals 45 

I knew you would come 7^ 

I listen to the wind 50 

I love you more each day 89 

I thought once ^7 

I woke with joy 75 

It's not your form so fair 68 

I will paint you 5^ 

Last night at the midnight hour 83 

Last night my soul 60 

Last night the fireflies 79 

Lying listless on the ground 4^ 

Maid of the bright and sparkling eye 51 

Maid with downcast eyes 47 

Not for long you said 74 

O how desired the night 63 

O Loved One, that suddenly 5^ 

Once I saw a workman 43 

41 



She is not wise as some 73 

Since you did depart 77 

Such strange and sudden suffering 64 

Sunless are the Heavens 89 

Sweet and eternal love 90 

The hush of night 78 

The love of God brings back the spring 71 

The moon was overhead 92 

The wires one day will carry 92 

There's none but you 67 

There are miles and miles 87 

There are millions of women 88 

The sunshine had departed 57 

The years of Heaven are many 66 

Thy close is come 84 

Waking I lay 59 

Wandering through the woods 46 

What shall I do 71 

What's the prettiest thing 69 

When birds come back 62 

When I go to the departed 43 

When the Lord Jesus walked upon the sea 81 

When we go hence 85 

When you are away 70 

When you think of me 72 

With a smile yet wistfully 81 

With the earthly when out of tune 90 

Yesterday I saw no trees 73 

You tell me sunlight dies 54 

Your eyes' bright beams 84 

Your eyes shine through the dark 86 

Your loving heart 66 

42 



When I go to the departed, 

In answer to God's command, 

You will not, love, be heavy hearted. 

Though you miss the touch of my hand. 

You will know that the old heart-aching 
Is finished beneath the sun; 
And that from world-slumber awaking 
Life is at last begun. 

From striving against depression. 
Often in vain (so it seemed), 
I shall pass to have in possession 
The things whereof I have dreamed. 

In a place where existence is sweeter. 
And lovers their vows renew. 
And joy after pain is completer, 
I shall be waiting for you. 

You come; and the consequent gladness 
Extinguishes sorrow and sin; 
Nor will there be any more sadness 
When Heaven's light shuts us in. 

II 

Once I saw a workman 
Take a piece of metal 
Dust-stained, dull and dingy, 
Thing of little worth, 
Throw it in a furnace. 
Blow a breath upon it. 
Make it incandescent, 
Make it light the earth. 

43 



Dark and dead my spirit, 
Full of cogitations, 
Sated with earth's pleasure, 
And despising it. 
Suddenly a maiden, — 
Innocent and child-like, — 
Cast a glance upon me. 
And the fire was lit. 

Sunset-hued and lovely 
As the apple blossom 
Is the light that lingers 
On her rosy cheek; 
Soft as is the velvet 
Of her snowy bosom 
Are the five fair fingers 
Of her hands that speak. 

In His great compassion 
God, Who worketh wonders, 
Threw my lifeless spirit 
Into beauty's blaze; 
Blew a breath upon it, 
Banished death and dullness, 
Made it incandescent, 
Made it emit rays. 

Miracles can't happen, 
Says the idle scoffer; 
Here's a proof conclusive 
That the scoffer lies: — 
I was dust and ashes 
Till love's breath revived me, 
And God's glory met me 
In a maiden's eyes 



44 



Ill 

I have seen the fair ideals 
Of my youth fade and depart 
With the heel of the oppressor 
Trampling on man's quivering heart. 

I have loved my very haters; 
Disbelieved in actions base, 
Till the devil in his malice 
Threw their venom in my face. 

I have dipped down deep in sorrow, 
Touched the bottom of the pit; 
Shrunk from sunlight and from moonlight, 
Mocked at joy and scouted it. 

Last I have known in my anguish 
A soft voice and eyes of light. 
Standing like a picture painted 
On a background dark as night. 

Once again I find the moonlight 
Full of power (as poets say) 
To impress upon the spirit 
Thoughts that never come by day. 

Meditations, emanations. 
Whispers from the Mystic Three, 
Breaking in upon time's shallows 
From far-off eternity. 

As of old the light of heaven, 
Sweet and lovely in its hues, 
Offers me the cup of blessing 
That my soul did long refuse. 

Doubt and darkness have departed, 
And an endless sun doth rise — 
All through meeting in a meadow 
A fair maid with downcast eyes. 

4S 



IV 

Lying listless on the ground, 

Dreaming, dreaming. 
Life seemed a monotonous round. 
Sunlight o'er me streaming. 

Laughed a child, above me stooped, 

Showed three faces 
In a tiny picture grouped, — 
Yours among the Graces. 

Straight a strange and sudden fever 

O'er me came. 
And a rapid pulse, that ever 
Burned within like flame. 

Useless dram or potion strong 

In my anguish; 
For a smile my soul did long, 
For a hand's touch languish. 

Why should fall upon my heart 

Such distress; 
And the tears unbidden start 
At a picture — guess! 

V 

Wandering through the woods together 
In the blue October weather. 
Smiling at the sky above us, 
We were sure that God did love us. 
And that we should never die, 
You and I. 

Stepping on the fallen leaf 
Without sorrow, without grief. 
Spring we knew would do her duty, 
Deck the woods again in beauty: 
Teaching us we cannot die. 
You and I. 

46 



On your cheek a ruddy glow, 
Fleet your foot as mountain roe; 
Tripping light along the road, 
Laughter from your eyes o'erflowed. 
Full, too full of life to die. 
You and I. 

Maiden, we who walked to-day 
Hand in hand along the way, 
We shall 'scape these mortal bands 
To inhabit brighter lands, 
There to love and never die. 
You and I. 

VI 

Maid with downcast eyes, before 

Your departure I deplore 

I would have your spirit know 

I'll not lose you though you go; — 

Reminiscent still I am: 

Te per omnia diligam. 

You do charm me day by day 
At your work and in your play; 
Draw me by an inward grace 
And the gleam upon your face; — 
Thoughtful, pensive still I am: 
Te per omnia diligam. 

To my soul you give content 

By your very merriment; 

By your eyes of liquid fire 

Lead me to the Light that's higher: 

Grateful, faithful still I am: 

Te per omnia diligam. 

What is life if it contain 
Nothing to offset its pain? 

47 



Into this dark house of clay 

You have brought a gladdening ray; — 

Unforgetful still I am: 

Te per omnia diligam. 

VII 

I have learned under the sun 
Living and striving are one: 
Living is striving against the despair 
That the devil brings on us unaware, 
And foiling by grace the thousand wiles 
Wherewith the spirit of man he beguiles. 

I have learned under the sun 

Living and loving are one: 

Living is loving in spite of pain 

And hateful thoughts that possess the brain, 

Loving on still when the sight is dim, 

And the pulse is low, and the senses swim. 

I have learned under the sun 
Hades and hate are one: 
Hate is the malady fiends employ 
To interrupt all human joy. 
He that hates the lowliest thing 
Is deaf to the song the angels sing. 

I have learned under the sun 

Loving and heaven are one: 

So are we made and silently wrought. 

So by the Spirit inwardly taught, 

That the soul that loves not knows no rest, 

And only the soul that loves is blest. 

VIII 

A fire God lit that cannot die 
I feel within my soul; 
Its flame descending from the sky 
Has passed from my control. 
48 



Such rapture permeates the sense, 
And smooths the brow of pain, 
Bids every torturing thought. Go hence; 
And brings back peace again. 

The flame in stubble lit, or fern, 
Is destined to expire; 
But that which in the soul doth burn 
Is an eternal fire. 

Calm, gentle, of celestial birth, 
Mighty and yet serene. 
It may not stay upon the earth. 
But seeks a distant scene: 

Where, — after sparks that here but showed 
What fire is, — we shall find 
The things that love's delight did cloud 
Forever cast behind. 

To foil the devil's deep disdain, 
As long as here we dwell 
Moments God sends us in our pain 
When Heaven excludeth hell. 

IX 

A child — there lies within your eyes 
A light unseen on land or sky: 
In worlds far off it took its rise, 
And it will never die. 

The opals of the morning fade; 
The crimsons leave the sunset hill; 
The sunshine yieldeth to the shade; 
But this light shineth still. 

A woman brave — the smUe you have 
Is not untouched by human pain, 
And knows for roses there's a grave, 
Nor may the Spring remain. 

49 



The world may laugh at grief and toil, 
Boasting while others groan they sleep; 
But there is that within your smile 
Which says, Unseen I weep. 

A spirit rare — your form so fair 
Conceals a form more fair within, 
A pledge of that far country where 
There is no death or sin. 

And in the long eternity, 
Succeeding our soon-ended days, 
I think my deepest joy will be 
With you to learn God's praise. 

X 

I listen to the wind alone. 
And it can only sob and moan; 
I hear the same sad wind with you — 
It laughs and nothing else can do. 

Alone I walk the street and see 
A selfish, soulless company; 
I pace it arm in arm with you — 
The men are kind, the women true. 

I look alone on autumn fields; 
The prospect only sadness yields; 
I see them through your laughing eyes 
And they resemble Paradise. 

I seek for joy alone and find 
There's nothing suited to my mind; 
I make the quest with you, — and all 
The world is keeping festival. 

I am content if you are near 
And glad as soon as you appear; 
But when your presence is withdrawn, 
'Tis midnight and I watch for dawn. 

SO 



O lend an ear to my complaint, 

And love me when my soul doth faint; 

Smile on me at my latest breath, 

And then I shall not shrink from death. 



XI 

Maid of the bright and sparkling eye, 
Shedding a light on my days, 
Of all the stars in the spacious sky 
One only attracts my gaze. 

Though how it can gleam and glisten so, 
Is a mystery past my ken. 
Its light was given, I seem to know, 
To gladden the souls of men. 

In Spring we behold the rose in bloom, 
And hear the nightmgale trill; 
But afterwards cometh snow and gloom 
And the cold blast over the hill. 

Finished for me are April and May, 
Finished are June and July; 
Now it is autumn with frosts on the way, 
And gathering clouds in the sky. 

Think you I suffer or sorrow for this— 
That gone are the days of June? 
The spirit that seeks for an infinite bliss 
With the finite is out of tune. 

It finds on earth there is no repose 
Whose joy flies fast as its pain; 
And pants for the music without a close. 
For the joy that will still remain. 

SI 



Only a cadence here and there 

We catch from the music of earth 

To suggest to the soul a world more fair 

Where the bliss that lasts has birth. 

One such cadence I caught to-day 
When you gave me a gracious smile, 
And taught my soul by that golden ray 
How Heaven makes earth worth while. 



XII 

Dearest, when I go home. 

And you muse in the twilight alone. 

Remember I still am near, 

And your least whisper can hear. 

What is this life but a dream! 
How niggard and narrow must seem 
All the endowment of sense 
To the soul that has just gone hence ! 

Bowing at Nature's shrine, 
Beauty and power we divine, — 
Round us, beneath us, above; — 
But where is the word of love? 

How do we know that we, — 

Tossed from eternity 

To this earth we inhabit, cast 

On the shore of the visible Vast, — 

How do we know that we 

Are loved by the Powers that be? 

Shall we question the silent years 

With their freight of laughter and tears? 

Shall we measure the hay and the grass 
That we in our barns amass? 
Or reckon the more or less 
Of what men call success? 

52 



Success if the soul be dead 
To the song of the stars overhead, 
Is nothing, is less than naught, 
Is far too dearly bought. 

Had we been screened from pain. 
Enriched without stress or strain, 
Attaining all our ends, 
Having to make no amends: 

Had we been this or that, 
No sorrow, no sin to combat; 
Created kings and queens, 
Owners of vast demesnes — 

Nowise such gifts would prove 
That God's individual love 
Embraced us. Gifts can be 
Given in enmity. 

There is but one release 

From anxiety, foe of peace; 

'Tis the message of Christ, Who died, 

'Tis the Word of the Crucified. 

He like the glorious sun 
Poured love-light on every one. 
And gave by word and deed 
The assurance we so much need. 

As long as on earth we strive. 
Our spirits from Him may derive 
The comfort the tempted know. 
When, — after long days of woe, — 

His suffering form appears. 
As a rainbow through their tears, 
And doth to the spirit prove. 
Behind this life is love. 



S3 



XIII 

You tell me, Sunlight dies; 
In truth it is not so; 
It lightens other skies; 
And soon the morn will show 
How vain is human sorrow 
For loss repaired to-morrow. 

I loved you when we met, — 
I cannot tell you why, — 
And now more deeply yet 
I love your shining eye, 
Unfolding worlds to me 
Where we shall one day be. 

The summers come and pass, 
And youth and colour fade; 
But look not in the glass. 
Look (and be unafraid) 
At the soul's silent gain 
That ever will remain. 

The eye lit with the light 
Of pure and heavenly rays, 
Is more surpassing bright 
Than any other gaze, 
And hath a hidden grace. 
Illumining the face. 

Although the rose depart, 
And snow fall on the hair, 
The soul doth live apart. 
Intrinsically fair; 
And loveliness concealed 
You have to me revealed. 

You say. But beauty dies; 
In truth it is not so; 
The beauty in the eyes 

54 



That are with love aglow, 
Beyond these hills of time 
Will rise yet more sublime. 

XIV 

Dear, do you realise 
By what a slender thread 
To this brief life we hold; 
That, spite of lustrous eyes. 
We both among the dead 
Soon, soon will be enrolled? 

To me there is no sting 
When human strength doth fail 
And I could calmly view 
Death, on his viewless wing. 
Approach the sufferer pale, 
Come even, Dear, to you. 

For then within the light 
And love and glory — where 
Amid the angelic throng 
The Father's presence bright 
Makes an enchanted air, 
Filled with seraphic song, — 

The soul finds after pain 
A calm earth never knew, 
A deep eternal peace 
That falls like gentle rain. 
That drops like morning dew. 
And all temptations cease. 

The hue, as when suns set, 
Upon your snowy cheek. 
The brightness of your eye, 
The laugh that killeth fret, 
The low voice when you speak, — 
These, these will never die. 

SS 



The Eternal Loveliness 

Who at creation made 

Mortality so fair, 

Will wrap you in a dress 

When you have passed the grave 

Such as the angels wear. 

And in that endless space 
With Heaven's star-dust strown, 
With love sufficed at last, 
Which here we could but taste, 
Our happy souls shall own 
God's love in all the past. 

XV 

I will paint you as I see you. 
Face and form and eyes, 
With the mirth that from your spirit 
Fountain-like doth rise. 

Fairer than a summer morning 
And its dower of flowers. 
Is the dreamy light that stealeth 
From those eyes of yours. 

Morning cannot speak as you speak 
With a tone that tells 
Of a treasury of devotion 
In your heart that dwells. 

Evening cannot make the restless 
Spirit so rejoice 
As my own does in the twilight 
Listening to your voice, 

God has formed you with perfections 
Passing words of mine. 
Set you in this world's transition 
For His praise to shine. 

56 



Star to guide the weary traveller 
Who doth stand and gaze 
At the seeming far-off Heaven 
From earth's dusty ways. 

Bird to sing his soul a ditty, 
Minding him of home, 
Till to the eternal city 
At the last he come. 

Star and bird, and, more than either,- 
Woman made for love; 
Eyes that gleam and hair that glistens 
Magically wove. 

I can bear this world's rejection. 
And the spirit pain. 
If until the morning breaketh 
Vou with me remain. 

XVI 

The sunshine had departed 
From hills where once I roved; 
I saw no more the visions 
That once my spirit moved. 

My eyes were growing dimmer. 
My footstep not so light; 
The morn I once rejoiced in 
Charmed less than sombre night 

The beauty of creation, 
The gleam in woman's eye, 
The tenderness of passion, 
The whispered low reply — 

I seemed to lose the gladness 
Of all these gracious things. 
As though the birds of summer 
Had taken to them wings. 

57 



But in the desolation 
That fast was coming on, 
A sudden light from Heaven 
Upon my spirit shone. 

I looked up and beheld it, 
As fair as the sunrise, 
Its depths on depths of glory- 
Hid in a maiden's eyes. 

XVII 

Loved One, that suddenly 
Vanished from sight. 

The peace of your presence 

1 long for to-night. 

How few and how fleeting 
The gleams of content; 
How frequent the sorrow 
Since you from me went. 

I dreamed as a child 
Of a sweetness to be 
When a love such as yours 
Should be given to me. 

I pictured the blue skies 
With never a cloud; 
And to-night in my anguish 
To earth I am bowed. 

O Loved One, that livest 
Where love changes not, 
Whose hand rocked my cradle, 
And tended my cot: 

From you came the teaching 
Above all to prize 
The depth of affection 
That shone in your eyes. 
58 



Those eyes are now hidden 
By mists in between; 
But still I am longing 
For what has once been. 

O tell me, O tell me 

If skies will be blue, 

And love deep as yours 

Make my child-dream come true? 



XVIII 

Waking I lay the whole night through, 
In a trance of love and prayer. 
Drowned in tresses of dusky hue, 
In tresses of Annie's hair. 

The stars through the lattice looked lovingly 
And smiled and murmured her name; 
They had lent their beams to the eyes of Annie 
When down to the world she came. 

I was lost in a vision of fair Annie, 

Her step, her voice, her form. 

Her bosom that such a sweet pillow might be 

For love to dream upon. 

As frozen snow begins to glow 
And melt when the sun doth rise, 
So dissolved my soul, my desolate soul, 
In the beams of Annie's eyes. 

The dearest moments earth confers. 

And Heaven cannot eclipse, 

I re-live in my dreams since my soul met hers 

At the touching of the lips. 



59 



XIX 

Last night my soul flew up 
From this dark earth 
To where beyond the clouds 
It had its birth. 

Two angels came and held 
My hands in theirs, 
And helped me say to God 
My thankful prayers. 

One with a girlish glance 
Moved me to sing, 
And drew me through the air 
On rapid wing. 

We came to a fair land 
And, side by side. 
Sat down to rest and watch 
The river glide. 

How long we heard the stream 
Sing in its flow; 
How long sat hand in hand 
I do not know. 

The sun is risen, yet earth 
Seems strangely sad; 
For no one has the smiles 
The angels had. 

But I am nearer Heaven' 
Than I have been; 
And narrower is the sea 
That rolls between. 



60 



XX 

Before the light of morning 
Had died from off the hills, 
And living was a rapture, 
And joys outnumbered ills — 

Each dawn of day beheld me, 
Alert and full of fire. 
Awake with expectation 
And feverish desire. 

To days that were too fleeting 
For all I would secure, 
To happiness and friendship 
I fancied would endure. 

But sorrow came upon me 
Increasing with the years, 
And eyes that brimmed with laughter 
Were dimmed by silent tears. 

And looking on creation 
It seemed a sordid place 
Where life began in glory 
And ended in disgrace. 

And only up in Heaven 
Was any joy, or rest; 
And those who perished early 
Appeared of all most blest. 

But as the horizon darkened 
Love came on silver wing, 
And threw his beams of beauty 
On every common thing. 

He made the hill-tops radiant 
With golden mist again. 
And to my sinking spirit 
Brought antidotes for pain. 
6i 



He taught my soul contentment, 
And lit the little while 
'Twixt this world and God's presence 
With the radiance of his smile. 

Each day he sets beside me 
A gracious angel form, 
To lean my aching head on 
When weary of the storm. 

And though the tired spirit 
My watchful foes molest, 
When glanced at by my angel 
I enter into rest. 



XXI 

When birds come back in Spring, 
The bluebird in his coat 
Of sparkling hue. 
The robin with his note. 
So strong and bold and true, 

I too am moved to sing. 

When sunshine floods the hills. 
And golden shafts do fly 
Adown deep space, 
Enlightening the eye 
And brightening the face, 

My heart with rapture fills. 

So after sorrow long 

Had locked the world in ice. 

And frost, and snow. 

My soul did hear a voice. 

Melodious in its flow. 
And melted into song. 
62 



The sunbeams with their spell, 
Gliding from heaven's height 
To wake the brook, 
Afford no such delight 
As doth a look 

From eyes that I love well. 

The birds that chirp and call, 

When the first rays of dawn 

Illume the sky. 

Have for my soul a charm 

And ministry; 
But thou hast more than all. 



XXII 

how desired the night 
That on her raven wings 
Deep feelings of delight 
To the tired spirit brings. 

In childhood's happy hours 
She came as calm and fair; 
But of her grace and charm 
My soul was unaware. 

But I am changed, and now 

1 find more dear than day 
The shadowy hours of night 
In which I muse and pray 

Until upon me steals 
The peace that I shall know 
When angels bid my soul 
Into God's presence go. 

In childhood's happy hours 
I knew not sorrow's might, 
Nor thought the dark could be 
As lovely as the light. 

63 



But I have wept, and now • 

My soul through suffering knows 
The comfort of the night, 
And all its deep repose. 

Day is for pressing on 
With songs upon the road; 
Night is for thought and love 
And communing with God. 

Your voice is like the night 
And doth my spirit thrill. 
And bless me with a joy 
That's indescribable. 

XXIII 

Such strange and sudden suffering 
My spirit did oppress; 
It crushed from out my human heart 
Each drop of happiness. 

Such longing for a love unknown, 
Yet dreamed of in my dreams. 
Such strong desire my thirst to quench 
At yet-untasted streams. 

Life's heavy anchor seemed to drag. 
And I to drift away 
From all the moorings of the world 
To an eternal day. 

What was earth's light that clouds do dim. 
Earth's joy that sorrows break? 
And what the worship mortals give 
To idols that they make? 

What was this love of womankind 
But a bright bird with wings, 
A honey that no man can take 
Who shrinks from painful stings? 

64 



Far better be where angels live 
In the perpetual light, 
And cast life's smoky torch away 
That could not pierce the night. 

Tempted I was to give up hope, 
And mock at sympathy, 
And call the world an empty dream,- 
And then you came to me. 

Your eyes met mine in earnest gaze 
And brought me instant rest; 
For in your loving soul I saw 
Life's purpose manifest. 



XXIV 

As the rose allures the bee 
So thy beauty draweth me. 

As the sunflower seeks the sun 
So my steps to thee do run. 

Not the reddest rose that blows 
Half thy grace and beauty owes. 

There's no yellow sunflower holds 
Richer sunlight in its folds. 

Rose and sunflower may not stay; 
They must droop and must decay. 

Thou hast what can never die 
In thy voice and in thine eye. 

Though the cold wind from the north 
Stops the crocus peeping forth: 

Though in icy chains the earth 
Groans and waits the Spring's re-birth: 

65 



Roses bloom within my walls, 
And the birds sing madrigals. 

For thy voice is like the bird's, 
And hath only loving words. 

And the roses thou dost veil 
Make all other roses pale. 

XXV 

Your loving heart in my distress 
Has helped me as before; 
All others leave me desolate, 
But you my soul restore. 

Your truth and trust my comfort are 
In face of countless foes; 
Your smile lights up the darkest place 
That human sorrow knows. 

Gentle your voice and soft and low 
To calm my harrowing fears; 
Your hand is perfect in the art 
Of wiping away tears. 

Your eyes shine on me constantly, 
As never planet shone; 
I see them in my nightly dreams; 
I wake and still dream on. 

And even though I were to die 
Your image would remain 
Within my waiting soul until 
My love found you again. 

XXVI 

The years of heaven are many; 
The days of earth are few; 
Nor would I have them longer 
If it were not for you. 
66 



The seeming satisfaction 
That things of sense can give 
To me is no incentive 
That I should wish to live. 

The only joy of living 

Is to be loved again 

By one whose deathless spirit 

With us wUl still remain: 

To watch the eyes that brighten, 
To catch the tones that hold 
Such melody as music 
Did never yet unfold. 

To thrill beneath a whisper, 
To tremble at a sigh, 
To have to all our questions 
Love's wordless sweet reply. 

To trust God for the future, 
And know that what we lose, 
Or miss in this existence, 
He will not then refuse. 

Your eyes, love, keep the secret 
Of happiness for me; 
And give me the assurance 
Of love's eternity. 



XXVII 

There's none but you 

Can save me from despairing 

Of happiness this side 

Eternity ; 

There's none but you 

Can keep me from not caring 

What here becomes of me. 

67 



There's none but you 

In all the world to love me 

And never hurt, or stab, 

My wounded soul; 

There's none but you 

And your sweet eyes to move me 

To act a hero's role. 

There's none but you 

When I have done with sorrow, — 

As soon I hope to be 

By heavenly grace, — 

Can fill with joy 

The unknown and dear to-morrow 

When we shall see God's face. 



XXVIII 

It's not your form so fair, 
Nor wealth of rippling hair, 
Nor voice that soundeth low 
In my long dreamings — no; 

It's not that when you smUe 
My sorrow you beguile; 
Nor yet your winning ways, 
The sunshine of my days; 

'Tis something deeper far 
Than all things outward are; 
'Tis holden from the eye 
Of sense; and that is why 

Your loveliness of soul, 
Seen day by day unroll, 
As blossoms do in May 
Under the warm sun's ray: 
68 



Your inward dower of light, 
Known but to second sight, 
The soul's eye, that avails 
When other vision fails: 

Your lovingness — not yours 
But given by God, Who pours 
On you His loving's gift, — 
Do lighten and uplift 

The spirit, filled with awe, 

Till perfect, without flaw, 

I own God's loving plan, 

That crowns His thought for man: 

And night and morning see, 
By love you shew to me. 
What depths of love await 
The soul beyond death's gate. 



XXIX 

What's the prettiest thing in the world? 
An apple tree with blossoms white 
And pmk against a sky of blue? 
A field of daffodils in the light 
Of a May morning, when the dew 
Is sparkling on the invisible strand 
The spider weaves at God's command? 

What's the prettiest thing in the world? 
The clouds that tinged by day's last rays 
Form islands of fire in oceans of green? 
The starry night with the countless fays 
That cluster around their silent queen. 
Who draws man's spirit, bound to earth. 
In an upward gaze to the place of his birth ? 

69 



What's the prettiest thing in the world? 

A maiden's eyes that shine and speak; 

A maiden's eyelids drooping low; 

A rosy blush upon the cheek; 

A bosom white as winter snow; — 

All these to you God's hand has given 

To teach my soul the beauty of Heaven. 



XXX 

When you are away from me, 
And I only behold you in dreams, 
Things lose their reality, 
And the sky its golden gleams. 

In songs, I have no more joy; 
They only darken my day; 
Nor can I find any employ 
To drive my sadness away. 

Why must we leave when we go 
To the one who in loneliness stays, 
To enhance and add to his woe, 
The longing for by-gone days? 

Why should laughter and love, 
And the touch of a speaking hand, 
Bring on us when they remove. 
Darkness so hard to withstand? 

Under the spell of your voice. 
And knowing that you are near. 
It is easy for me to rejoice. 
And stifle every fear. 

But as long as sleepless I lie, 
And call for your presence in vain, 
And there comes not any reply, — 
There is no end to my pain. 

70 



XXXI 

The love of God brings back the Spring, 
And paints in green the rolling hills; 
The rose begins its blossoming, 
And all the air with sweetness fills. 

The love of God brings back the bird, 
Across long leagues of ocean foam, 
Obedient to a heavenly word, 
To sing and make a summer home. 

The love of God brings back the warm, 
Long, lightsome days loved by the bee. 
Who leaves the hive and finds a charm 
In every blossom he doth see. 

So from my heart that dormant lay 
While winter storms above it swept. 
Responsive to the voice of May, 
At last a song of love has crept. 

Like to the bird, I'd build a nest 
With you for mate the summer through, 
And when by winter dispossessed 
Would fly to brighter climes with you. 



XXXII 

What shall I do when you are away, 
O Star of my darkest night ! 
And I long in vain for your laugh so gay, 
And the eyes that love makes bright? 

What shall I do when you are away, 
And heart and brain are tired; 
And sick in soul, your presence I crave, 
Unrested and uninspired? 

71 



What shall I do when you are away, 
And fancies upon me press, 
That strangle joy and leave me the prey 
To memories of past distress? 

What shall I do when you are away. 

And skies in May are blue; 

And the song-sparrow sings on the orchard spray, 

And I listen — without you? 

I will be strong; for I hate to be weak; 
Will suffer as man has before, 
And in my dreams that country seek 
Where hearts can ache no more. 



XXXIII 

When you think of me 

Will your spirit rejoice, 

O Joy of my soul? 

And hearing the voice 

Of a love without end, 

Shall I still be your choice 

For your friend — best loved friend ? 

When you think of me 

WUl you wish for the day, 

O Joy of my soul, 

When no longer we stay 

At two ends of the earth 

While the hours pass away 

To which love lends all worth? 

When you think of me 

Will you pray that life's pain, 

O Joy of my soul. 

May at last turn to gain; 

And the moments of bliss 

Return and remain 

That were mine in your kiss? 

72 



XXXIV 

She is not wise as some folks are 
In wisdom won from books; 
Her native sense is better far 
And shines in all her looks. 

The things philosophers do guess 
She does not seek to prove; 
Her strength is in her gentleness, 
Her charm is in her love. 

She was not born for selfish ends^ 
And though unused to grief 
She sympathises with her friends, 
And runs to their relief. 

I did not know when first we met 
What were our destinies: 
But in my memory lingers yet 
The first smUe from her eyes. 

Praise to her Maker Who such grace 
To crown my days has given 
That when I look upon her face 
I have a glimpse of Heaven. 



XXXV 

Yesterday I saw no trees, 
Heard no bird. 
Felt no wind; 
But was blind. 

Yestereve my head did ache. 
Heart was sick, 
Watching stars 
Through the bars, 

73 



You yourself came — 
" Love, sweet love ! " 
Sang the bird — 
And I heard. 

You yourself smiled — 
And I saw 
Dance the trees 
In the breeze. 

You yourself laughed — 
Flashed a spark; 
Eyes were moist; 
Words low- voiced. 

How the south wind 
Shook the leaf 
That it fell, 
Can I tell? 

Red the roses 
On a bush; 
But my rose 
Surpasses those. 

And I am 
Intoxicate 
With the dower 
Of my flower. 

XXXVI 

" Not for long," last night you said 
Could my love endure; 
You had but a foolish head, 
Its training had been poor. 

" Picturesquely foolish " would 
What you were convey; 
And I therefore, if I could, 
Should go another way. 

74 



Education, to be sure, 
Heart and mind improves; 
But a woman steeped in lore 
A man seldom loves. 

That which draws and ever holds 
A man's full devotion 
Slowly with the years unfolds — 
Deep as is the ocean. 

You may call it what you will 
Trust, or faith, or truth; 
In the soul it shineth still — 
Most of all in youth. 

Pity 'tis it should depart 
As the years progress; 
Poor indeed is woman's heart 
Without this richesse. 

Pray to keep alive the love 
Given you as a child; 
Lift each day your eyes above 
Lest you be beguiled. 

Leave to others to be wise. 

Learned, witty, clever; 
Shun pretention and disguise, 

And be loved forever. 



XXXVII 

I woke with joy in my heart 
As one wakes in the light of Heaven, 
Where for all the woes of earth 
Consolation in full is given. 

I looked on the world and it held 
Beauty too deep to know 
Hid in a cluster of pines 
Afire with the morning's glow, 

75 



A million silver drops 
Gleamed in the emerald grass; 
Their splendor passes not; 
'Tis only man doth pass. 

Not life; not love. They endure, 
Outlasting the stars and the sky; 
The sun may disappear 
But love can never die. 

Such comfort was mine as I woke 
With your image in my heart; 
And the thrill of your touch in my soul 
No death can make depart. 



XXXVIII 

" I knew you would come " was all you said, 
But the words were a benediction; 
For they told me you trusted the promise I made. 
And knew that my love was no fiction. 

What do we give to the soul who shares 
With us life's sorrow and joy 
That for perfect sweetness and charm compares 
With a trust without alloy? 

What do we give to God, from Whom 
To this dark world we came, 
So dear as our trust that beyond the tomb 
His love will be ever the same? 

When I step on the stair of the starry sphere 

Appointed our second home, 

My trust is a girlish voice to hear. 

And a whisper — *' I knew you would come." 

76 



XXXIX 

Since you did depart 
The days have been long, 
Sick is my heart, 
Nor careth for song. 

How very unwise 

(Hear the foe!) to have grown 

So fond — I surmise 

Now you'll let love alone? 

The charm was not wove 
By human design 
Which taught me to love 
That beauty of thine. 

The bond that doth bind 
And keep in control. 
My spirit and mind. 
My body and soul. 

Is so bitter betimes. 
So inwoven with pain, 
That comfort declines. 
And death would be gain. 

It may be, my Sweet, 
I am tortured like this 
That I may when we meet 
In mere respite find bliss. 



XL 

A precious thought appeared to-day 
As swallows come from o'er the sea; 
It was that though so far away 
You could not change to me. 

77 



The lonely days without your glance, 
The nights unlighted by your eyes, 
The trysting time do yet advance 
When all my sorrow dies. 

The visitants when you are gone, 
Who haunt and harass and affright, 
Have not my trust in God o'erthrown, 
/ know the morn is bright. 

Athirst for home, athirst for rest, 
Hated by all the devil's host. 
My inextinguishable quest 
Is 'for love's uttermost. 

O spirit's joy, O evening star, 
Desired so much, and out of reach, 
Your beams that bless me from afar 
God's love and glory teach. 

XLI 

The hush of night 

After the strife of day; 

The cooling hour 

When sinks the burning ray, 

Are gifts of God, 

And do His love convey. 

The evening star 

In splendor all alone. 

Ere the heavens are 

With constellations strown, 

Reproves the heart 

That would His love disown. 

The calm that falls 
Soft as the feathery dew 
Upon my soul 
Since, Dearest, I loved you. 
Is His sweet grace, 
And doth my Hfe renew, 
78 



Your love each day 

Keeps His love in my mind; 

Your kindness tells 

Me that He too is kind; 

And, sure of God, 

The path of peace I find. 



XLII 

Last night the fire flies in the dell 

Cast o'er my dreaming soul a spell, 

As dear as when we walked together 

And watched them in the selfsame weather. 

The peerless moon was overhead; 
The patient stars their lustre shed; 
Again I heard the barking dog; 
Again the croaking of the frog. 

The same west wind was in the pine 
You stood beneath, your hand in mine, 
And listening to its plaintive sigh 
I held my breath expectantly. 

I felt a presence near to bless; 
A hand unseen did mine caress; 
Upon a face a soft light played. 
And peace to my sad heart conveyed. 

The stars are gone, and it is day; 
The T)wl and bat have fled away; 
The wind is yet among the trees, 
Which dance as if in ecstasies. 

The crickets chirp; the sky is blue; 
The happy birds their songs renew; 
But oh! give back the night to me. 
The fire flies and your memory. 

79 



XLIII 

How weary of words I am! 
They are limited and lame; 
They are valueless and vain ! 
If I could but see your eyes, 
If they on my dark should rise, 
Language would be too weak. 
Not a word would I speak. 

I would gaze in a kind of dream 
On your movements and your mien 
To be sure that you did not seem, 
But were really you at last 
With the separation past, 
And perfect days in store, 
New heights of love to explore. 

I would listen to what you said 
As one for some time dead 
Who to speak is half afraid; 
Nor could I at once resume 
The thrilling and tender tune 
That rose to my lips each day 
Before you went away. 

I would have to be taught anew 
The song so touching and true 
That I daily sang to you; 
I am sure I could sing it again 
If you let your hand remain 
In mine, and gave me the look 
Which you from the angels took. 

How v/eary of words I am! 
Yet if only to-night you came 
And fanned these ashes to flame, 
I would speak just three, — and then 
After you had spoken ten; 
80 



For all the rest of the night 
Not a word would say, or write. 



XLIV 

When the Lord Jesus walked upon the sea 

At midnight on the Lake of Galilee 

And drew near to the little company 

Of tired disciples rowing wearily 

They asked the Lord in their familiar talk, 

Why on the waste of waters dost Thou walk?" 

I walk upon the sea, was the reply, 

To shew unto the human spirit's eye 

The glory of the Father of the sky 

In all its infinite immensity: 

And also the eternal glory tell 

Of the Holy Spirit and God's Son as well. 

I wish upon that lake I might have been, 
And had a part in that stupendous scene: 
It would have been my changeless daily theme: 
It would have been my constant nightly dream. 
Seeing Eternal Love come to my aid, 
Nothing henceforth should make my soul afraid. 

XLV 

With a smile, yet wistfully. 
Not for long you said to me 
Could the tie betwixt us be. 
It might weary hours beguile. 
Light our steps a little while; 
But would surely pass away 
As the night succeeds the day. 

So you warned me to relax 
Nor my brain to overtax 
8i 



Blowing on the smoking flax. 
Laugh, you said, at change and fate; 
Nor for any future wait; 
Roses which to-day are red 
Are to-morrow sere and dead. 

As one conscious of your grace, 
And the glow upon your face, 
Scarcely knoweth what he says. 
Dazzled by your gleaming eyes 
Far too much to analyze, — 
Though my heart within was hot 
I was dumb and answered not. 

All alone at dead of night 
Meditating love's delight, 
Came a thought unmanned me quite: 
Is love, then, one day to end? 
And would God, Who did commend 
Love in Christ, cause ceaseless pain 
By resuming it again? 

What ! must joy give place to groan. 

Vanish every tender tone. 

Till at last uncheered, alone, 

We met death with love estranged, 

And a changeless God Who changed. 

Made our hearts sweet love to hold, 

Drew it back, and left us cold? 

Dearest, listen to the word 
That my spirit deeply stirred 
For its consolation heard: 
Love that is earth's only prize 
Is continued in the skies: 
By the trials it undergoes 
Brighter than the stars it grows. 



82 



XL VI 

Last night at the midnight hour, 
After I had been restless all day, 
Came the scent of a beautiful flower, 
And my agony passed away. 

At the honied heart of the bloom 
I drank as a thirsty bee, 
Till swam the walls of the room. 
Till the visible faded from me. 

Faded the malice of men, — 
Robbing us of our repose. 
But powerless to vex us when 
God gives us the scent of a rose. 

Faded the sense of ennui. 
That makes life hard to endure, 
That weighs on the spirit till we 
Of even God's love are not sure. 

In a moment my spirit had joined 
The dead on the heavenly floor. 
And was searching their squadrons to find 
A face that I loved before. 

A compassionate angel throng 
Approached me and kissed my brow, 
And I longed to sing their song; 
But as yet I knew not how. 

And I sighed, teach me to sing 
The tender and soft refrain 
That can light the eyes and bring 
Such joy to the souls of men. 

A loved voice called my name; 
I awoke; and God alone knows 
How rapture and song both came 
To my soul in the scent of a rose. 

83 



XLVII 

Your eyes' bright beams were never seen 
In planet, moon, or star; 
They tell me past this mortal screen 
What gleaming worlds there are. 

Your voice's tone doth more delight 
Than song of robin or wren; 
I can hear it in the hush of night. 
And amid the hum of men. 

Your lips are roses whence distils 
A nectar unknown to the bee; 
One sip whereof my spirit fills 
With a kind of esctasy. 

Your woman's heart is a Paradise, 
Wherein no serpent is; 
But many a nameless dainty device 
To add to a lover's bliss. 

Your spirit came from God Himself, 
As come the birds in spring 
That daily upon my window shelf 
Their Maker's glory sing. 

Your loving soul my soul doth teach, 
And indicate the road 
That man must take if he would reach 
The shining home of God. 



XLVIII 

Thy close is come, perfect day; 
The sun is set; the night is here; 
Only the memory doth stay 
Of skies so blue and clear. 

84 



Dear God, our joy is incomplete, 
Is clouded with a sense of pain;— 
Why hast Thou made the hours so fleet 
Which we would have remain? 

We cannot be as we would be; 
Our eyes their lustre may not keep; 
We fain would watch; but wearily 
Like flowers we fall asleep. 

Thou must befriend us; for unless 
We have Thy love, our life is vain; 
Too desolate the wilderness, 
Too hard to bear the chain. 

Reach downward to our hearts that ache 
For deeper love, for tireless bliss; 
Into Thine arms Thy chUdren take, 
And heal them with a kiss. 



XLIX 

When we are gone hence, 
And the things of sense 
Have ceased to hem us in; 
When the spirit that yearned 
Has to God returned 
From a world of sorrow and sin. 

The work I have done 

You say will live on. 

The poems I write survive; 

But what comfort were this 

If cold to your kiss 

I myself were no longer alive? 

Could honor's voice, 
Or posterity's choice, 

85 



Provoke the silent dust? 

Could praise of men 

Bring life again 

To a being their hate had crushed? 

I have lost all care, 

Or desire, to share 

The glory that men discuss; 

My support is the thought 

Your love has taught 

That God still loveth us. 

His word did fashion 

And give its passion 

To body and mind; then sheathe 

The spirit in earth 

To learn the worth 

Of the struggle with sin and death. 

To the world to come 

We shall carry love's sum. 

The pearl of a bitter sea; 

As here so there. 

But beyond compare. 

The chUdren of God shall be. 



Your eyes shine through the dark on me 
As do the moon's pale beams; 
Waking their gracious light I see, 
Sleeping they fill my dreams. 

Your face is chiseled in changeless calm; 
Your lips are scarcely red; 
'Tis your eyes alone that pour their balm 
On my spirit cold and dead. 
86 



They hold a gleam that was never seen 
Skyward, or on the earth; 
A light derived from the place serene 
Where spirits have their birth. 

O heav^en-born eyes, shine on me still 
And make me more resigned 
In love and patience to fulfill 
The tasks by God assigned. 



LI 

I thought once if that bitterest thing — 
A coldness — came twixt me and you 
The birds would cease their carolling, 
The rose would lose its hue. 

And yet I listen to the thrush 
Sing sweet as yester-morn it did; 
And on the drooping dewy bush 
The roses still are red. 

Bloom still, although I suffer blight; 
Song still, although my songs are past,- 
Grieving that there should be a night 
As wretched as the last. 

I think the angels weep when we 
Are namelessly afflicted so. 
Knowing no bliss can ever be 
Like that which we forego. 



LIT 

There are miles and miles between us, 
But nothing between our souls; 
No bars can stem the river 
That ever onward rolls. 

87 



There are days and days between us 
In which to stifle tears; 
But the trysting hour is coming 
That will make amends for years. 

What of the restless dreaming 
Before that waking hour: 
The fear of love's defection, 
So painful to endure? 

Only one Voice can comfort 

The spirit thus distrest: 

God gives and lends not; wherefore 

Return unto thy rest." 



LIII 

There are millions of women that breathe in the world, 

Thousands I pass each day; 
But only one with the loving look 

That charms my sorrow away. 

There are millions of hands which are soft and white, 

And mine for a moment might hold; 
Yet only one in the universe 

At last would not leave me cold. 

God in designing the human heart 

Hath willed that it should be 
Shut to all except to the one 

To whom He gives the key. 

Just two hands there are in the world, 

And just one pair of eyes. 
To unlock the chambers of the soul, 

And remove its maladies. 



88 



LIV 

Sunless are the heavens, 
And the birds are songless; 
Speechless are the planets, 
And the moon is sUent — 
If you love me not. 

Sorrowful earth's visage, 
All its voices mournful; 
Painful mere existence. 
Music only discord — 
If you love not me. 

Faultless is Creation, 
And its beauty peerless; 
Matchless God's provision, 
Sweet the joy of living — 
If you love me still. 

Joyful, trustful, hopeful 
Is my troubled spirit; 
Nor the issue doubtful 
(Faithful is our Maker) — 
If you still love me. 



LV 

I love you more each day that passes; 
Your presence is my source of rest; 
I see all life through rose-tint glasses 
When of your smile possessed. 

I need you more each day that passes; 
Your eyes disarm the phantom host 
Of doubts and fears that life amasses 
As all its hopes are crossed. 



I trust you more each day that passes; 
And, trusting so, find peace on earth. 
Wild flowers growing in the grasses, 
And wisdom born of mirth. 

I bless you more each day that passes; 
Your beauty ask me not to praise. 
My spirit stricken dumb confesses 
That God's love crowns my days. 



LVI 

Sweet and eternal love. 
The sunshine of my day, 
Joy visits not this heart 
When thou'rt away. 

Solace and strength and hope 
Of all the hours to come. 
Thy dear society 
Maketh my home. 

Prayed for in every prayer. 
Dreamed of in all my dreams. 
From those clear eyes of thine 
God's glory streams. 

Safe in His loving care 
You and I are — 
UntU we soar beyond 
The farthest star. 



LVII 

With the earthly when quite out of tune 
I can slip from these mortal bars; 
I can wander beyond the moon, 
I can mingle among the stars. 
90 



I can mount as flame in air, 
Meander as light through glass, 
The wildest ascensions dare, 
From planet to planet pass. 

Yet still to my spirit there clings 
A need for the love of the earth, — 
For the bird with the beautiful wings 
To deaden my pain with its mirth. 

I mourn for the heart-moving tone, 
I pine for the low-voiced replies, 
For the peace that is not to be known 
Except under two loving eyes. 

Thus, whether in star-land I glide. 
Or through a vindictive world roll, 
Unless, Love, thou art at my side, 
I am restless and sick in my soul. 

LVIII 

I cannot lose you now; 

Your soul from mine 
No power in heaven, or earth below, 

Can disentwine. 

Come pain, come agony, or death. 

It nought avails; 
Almighty arms are underneath, 

And love prevails. 

There's none can separate us when 

We stand as one 
Against aU wrongs to mortal men 
• That may be done. 

What's death but a delusive thing 

We can defy: 
Love gaineth strength from suffering 

To scale the sky. 
91 



At last sits down upon the banks 

Of heaven's river, 
And satisfied gives endless thanks 

To God the Giver. 

LIX 

The wires one day will carry o'er: 
He has passed on; 

And you will shut your chamber door, 
And muse alone. 

Perhaps you'll wish unspoken then 
Some words you said; 
And whisper low to quench your pain: 
He is not dead. 

Weep not, beloved, sure of this, — 
I'm with you still; 

More close than when we felt (O bliss!) 
Our pulses thrill. 

With you as sunlight on your way 
Until we meet: 

Supporting to the close of day 
Your tireless feet. 

Past death God gives us endless years 
For love's increase: 
No heart-ache more, nor any tears, 
To mar our peace. 



LX 

The moon was overhead. 
Pale, silent and serene; 
The distant mountains shed 
Faint shadow on the scene. 
92 



In sinuous line they seemed 
To touch the northern stars; 
A dream of love I dreamed, 
And passed these mortal bars. 

Long while I had been dead, — 
Ashes in lieu of fire, — 
At last I lived instead, 
And had my heart's desire. 

Your voice was in my ear, — 
My spirit knew its tone, — 
More moving and more dear 
For years and months alone. 

The bitterness and pain 
Of exile from your face, 
Of seeking it in vain, 
To joy had given place. 

At last no more debased 
By offerings of the earth, 
I saw its little taste 
Of love held all its worth. 



93 



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